1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to energy conversion, and particularly to a transmission for converting fluctuating natural energy into rotary output of generally constant angular velocity.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Whatever primary resources are used in supplying future electrical energy needs, a back-up system based on minor natural resources with or without access to a national or municipal grid could be a decisive factor in case of local or widespread energy emergencies. With all technically feasible applications of minor natural resources accounting only for a small percentage of total energy needs, it is readily understood that these resources such as water, wind, and sun, taken individually, fail to have any appreciably economic significance so long as they are subject to widely different technologies. Therefore, the question addressed is concerned with simplifying the technology to the effect that any one or all minor natural energy resources can be exploited by a common concept in order to generate electrical or other suitable energy. To this end, the disclosed invention is used as an interface system allowing for a transitory change of both form and substance of an available energy mode. It is this property of transitory energy mode that designates such systems as hybrid, and indicates their preferred application as minielectric energy installations. To be sure, distinction is made between a hybrid energy converter with reference to its functional property as a transmission of constant output speed, and hybrid electric installations with their combinations of different mini-energy resources, such as wind, water, and sun.
The advantage of the disclosed invention not only rests in its inherent independence of cyclic or arbitrarily occurring fluctuations of hydrodynamic, aerodynamic, or thermodynamic prime movers, but also with its ability of storing energy. It is these two functions, namely constant output speed and energy storage, that have attracted the attention of other inventors. U.S. Pat. No. 3,983,704, issued Oct. 5, 1976 to L. C. McFarland, is concerned primarily with a solar heat converter characterized by constructual elements of distinct dissimilarity from those of the present invention. The same is true of U.S. Pat. No. 3,974,394, issued Aug. 10, 1976 to W. Bailey, which is primarily concerned with energy storage, and lacks both intentional and constructual similarities in comparison with the disclosed invention. The inventions disclosed in the U.S. Pat. Nos.: 1,389,428, issued Aug. 30, 1921 to G. Gartling; 1,932,497, issued Oct. 31, 1933 to L. H. Wellensiek; and 2,478,051, issued Aug. 2, 1949 to C. H. Nordell, show some similarity with an invention disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 659,660, issued Oct. 16, 1900 to M. Gehre, in regard to functional details of energy transmission and, therefore, can be discussed together in comparison with the disclosed invention. Characteristically, for all the compared inventions, the energy carrying elements are supported by a guide system which allows for their cyclic up and down movement by which energy is stored during their movement in one direction and released in their movement in the opposite direction. In the case of the device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 659,660, chain-driven weights, in their free-fall movement, transfer their stored, potential energy back to the same chain, thus driving an electrical generator by way of their gained kinetic energy. In the present invention, the cyclic potential/kinetic energy exchange takes a different course insofar as the free-falling masses are concerned, with those masses also being fed back to the chain or otherwise supported recycling carrier but only after their gained free-fall kinetic energy was transferred directly to the mover of an electrical generator, which generator is not in a mechanically fixed connection with respect to the recycling conveyor of the falling masses at any time. This is in contrast to the device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 659,660, which is distinguished from the present invention by its periodic energy generation in contrast with the continuous energy generation accomplished by the present invention. It is due to the latter design that constructual simplicity and operational cost-effectiveness are increased.